“Count on me, Singapore” turned into spiritual song in India and sold for US$0.50 per download

Singapore’s national song, “Count on me, Singapore”, appears to be very popular among the people in India. The song has now been found to be copied and modified into a religious version by an Indian spiritual organization, the Dada Bhagwan Foundation (DBF).

According to its website, DBF is a “spiritual non-profit organization” formed with the goal of spreading peace, harmony and ultimate bliss to the world through the science of “Akram Vignan” – the science of “self realization” as expounded by its founder Dada Bhagwan.

Their spiritual message is propagated through a variety of media including books, monthly magazines, DVDs, website and TV channels. It also established a self-contained residential township to facilitate spiritual advancement for its spiritual seekers, its website said. In addition, DBF also runs a home for senior citizens, hospital, meal house, residential hostels for school boys and visitors.

It was found that DBF has modified “Count on me, Singapore” and put its modified version on bandcamp.com to sell for US$0.50 per download since 1 Jan 2015. Bandcamp is an internet music company which shares revenue with artists who put up their music on Bandcamp’s site to sell.

It’s interesting to note that DBF has modified the lyrics of Singapore’s national song so as to put a “spiritual slant” into it:

We have a vision for tomorrow, just believe, just believe.
We have goal for mother Niruma, we can achieve, we can achieve.
You and me will do our part, stand together, heart to heart,
We are going to show the world what akram vignan can be,
We can achieve. (2)

There is something down the road that we can try for,
We are told to train for jagat kalyan we can try for,
There’s a spirit in the air, it’s a feeling we all share.
We are going to show the world what Dada can be,
We can achieve. (2)

Count on me Deepakbhai,
Count on me to give my best and more.
You and me will do our part, stand together, heart to heart,
We are gonna show the world what mahatma can be. (2)
We can achieve. (4)

Notes to the above lyrics:

• Niruma – refers to Niruben Amin who passed away in 2006. She was an Indian religious leader and addressed as Pujya Niruma by her followers. A gynecologist by profession, she became a disciple of Dada Bhagwan, the founder of DBF. She nursed Dada Bhagwan during his illness and later succeeded him when he died.
• Akarm Vignan – the science of “self realization” expounded by Dada Bhagwan.
• Jagat Kalyan – salvation of the world
• Deepakbhai – Deepakbhai Desai, referred as Pujya Deepakbhai by his followers, is the spiritual leader who currently heads DBF.
• Mahatma – great soul, saint or ascended master

Earlier, a man by the name of Joseph Mendoza in India plagiarized the Singapore’s national song and said he was the original composer of the song. But on Sunday (21 Mar), the Ministry of Community and Culture (MCCY) confirmed that Mendoza rescinded his ownership claim and apologised for the “confusion caused” (‘MCCY: Mendoza apologised for confusion caused by claim over NDP song‘).

“Count On Me, Singapore” was composed by Hugh Harrison, arranged by Jeremy Monteiro and performed by Clement Chow. The song was commissioned by the then Ministry of Culture in the mid-80s and is now owned by the Singapore government.